All Family

Miley Cyrus spurred a litany of online criticisms and guides for combating the not so subtle misogyny of her VMA performance with Robin Thicke this weekend leaving this youth pastor to wonder why Thicke escaped such criticism.

Colonel Meow, the feline Internet sensation, receives the Guinness nod as world's hairiest cat. Children will see a tiny living plush toy to cuddle, while parents looking into the jaws of housekeeping.

Back-to-school time resurrects the perennial earn or learn debate about pay for good grades. This school principal and father ponders the outrageous fortunes of a childhood with parents who cruelly believed that kids should work merely for the reward of insight and joy and self-improvement ... and not for cash.

The school year may have just begun, but Midwest school children are already getting some time off as soaring temperatures and high humidity levels have prompted early dismissals and school closings in four states.

US school environments are getting healthier with better nutritional choices, more opportunities for physical activity, and reduced exposure to tobacco smoke, found a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Poll shows a majority of Americans say they pray daily. As families head to church on this long Labor Day weekend, this mom holds up a prayer to consider: To honor the common, indeed sacred, sense of humanity of each person as a fellow traveler: I don't need to be like you to respect you; you don't need to be like me to respect me.

Twerking, Miley Cyrus-style, got this mom cogitating on 'danthropology' and the long line of dances kids are forbidden to do, from the lambada on back to Josephine Baker. Her basic rule for her kids is: Don't perform any move you wouldn't want to see your mom do in front of your friends.

Chicago Public Schools prepare to welcome students back to school this week, despite the closing of 50 schools and layoffs of 1,500 teachers in response to a projected $1 billion deficit forecast for 2014.